As one of Australia’s leading web hosting companies, Crucial has more than 7000 virtual servers housing over 50,000 websites. Virtual private server (VPS) hosting is the company’s bread and butter, with three different types of VPS hosting for you to choose from. If you’re just starting out with web hosting, though, Crucial also offers top-notch shared hosting plans.

Shared Hosting – $19.90 AUD per month

You’ll get 50 GB of storage, a good enough value to start with on shared hosting. You’re limited to hosting a total of 10 domains, but there are no caps on how many subdomains you can have. Crucial also gives you unlimited bandwidth and email.

Thanks to CloudLinux technology, Crucial can isolate your sites from the negative effects of excess usage from others who share the same server. Coupled with Crucial’s free CloudFlare plugin, which fends off malicious attacks, this means your account is safe from the usual causes of sudden outages.

You’ll get the industry-standard cPanel control panel software and Softaculous script installer with your account, ensuring a smooth site building and management process. You can deploy hundreds of useful scripts like CMS (WordPress, Drupal, etc.), wikis, shopping carts, merchant gateways, and more, all in one click.

Best yet, Crucial gives you unmatched assistance every step of the way. Setup is free and hassle-free, so you’ll have your account ready immediately. If you’ve already got an existing site, Crucial migrates everything for a one-time fee of $99 AUD.

Managed VPS Hosting – from $249.90 AUD per month

VPS is the way to go if you need more brawn than shared hosting provides. Crucial has three types of VPS hosting available: managed, cPanel, and barebones. All of these plans use SSD storage for maximum speed and performance, but the managed VPS hosting plans stand out with their assurance of complete server upkeep from Crucial.

Here’s a look at the available managed plans:

Feature2GB VPS4GB VPS8GB VPS
Price$249.90$349.90$549.90
RAM2 GB4 GB8 GB
CPU cores248
Storage50 GB100 GB200 GB
Bandwidth750 GB1 TB1.5 TB
Dedicated IP111

Bandwidth allocations are on the low end for VPS hosting packages, especially at these prices, but they aren’t terrible either. The same goes for storage.

All managed hosting plans come with cPanel/WHM for easy server management. More than that, though, Crucial promises to handle all the hassle of performing standard server maintenance tasks, so you’re free to concentrate on growing your website. Crucial will handle everything from regular security and kernel updates to putting up software firewalls and monitoring your server for issues 24/7.

For added peace of mind, Crucial also implements DDoS protection and automatic nightly backups for all managed plans, free of charge.

As with the shared hosting plans, you’ll get free account setup to get you started instantly. Managed VPS plans also get exclusive Crucial Concierge support, meaning you’ll get a dedicated account manager to help you with onboarding and migration. Once you’ve got momentum growing, Crucial assures you of seamless transitions between plans, so you’ll never have to worry about your site’s growth being held back by your hosting plan’s resources.

cPanel VPS – from $99.90 AUD per month

If you’re confident you can handle server maintenance, and you want something more budget-friendly than the managed VPS plans’ steep prices, consider Crucial’s cPanel VPS hosting plans.

Here’s a look at what you can choose from:

Feature2GB VPS4GB VPS8GB VPS
Price$99.90$199.90$399.90
RAM2 GB4 GB8 GB
CPU cores248
Storage50 GB100 GB200 GB
Bandwidth750 GB1 TB1.5 TB
Dedicated IP111

You’ll still get cPanel/WHM software free with every plan, as well as DDoS protection and free account setp. However, automated nightly backups are optional for these packages.

Barebones VPS Hosting – from $29.90 AUD per month

For experienced users who’d like the performance of VPS with less of the cost, Crucial offers barebones VPS hosting. These virtual private servers come with only the essentials, but what you lose in extra services of convenience, you gain in freedom and control over how your VPS works, thanks to full root access.

You can choose between Linux or Windows operating systems for your server, for example, and you can install whatever control panel you’d like.

Here are the barebones plans you can choose from:

Feature1GB VPS2GB VPS4GB VPS
Price$29.90$59.90$119.90
RAM1 GB2 GB4 GB
CPU cores124
Storage25 GB50 GB100 GB
Bandwidth500 GB750 GB1 TB
Dedicated IP111

Resources are a bit stingy for these plans, though, so if you anticipate lots of traffic, you’re going to have to go for the more expensive plans. You’ll still get DDoS protection and OnApp software to help you out, but automated backups remain optional, and you’ll only be able to get Crucial support for network issues.

Performance, Billing and Guarantees

Crucial’s use of SSD storage, top-notch processors, and their solid, Sydney-based Australian Pacific  Data Centers network gives you rapid performance and ultra-low latency. The company gives you a 99.9% uptime guarantee, so you can expect compensation (typically in the form of prorated credits) for any unscheduled downtime.

Crucial offers you billing cycles of 1, 3, 6, or 12 months. There are no long-term contracts, giving you the freedom to adjust payment cycles or cancel subscriptions as you please, without any penalties. Longer billing cycles come with discounts, going up to 16% for a 12-month cycle.

Crucial also offers money-back guarantees with all of its hosting plans. You will get a full refund if you cancel your shared or reseller hosting plan within 30 days of registration, or 10 days if you’re cancelling a VPS hosting plan instead.

Customer Support

Crucial provides 24/7/365 support through live chat and their support ticket system, as well as phone support during office hours. The company also maintains a library of educational articles and resources on its website.

What's the Verdict on Crucial?

A Must Have

Crucial Review 2020 – Conclusion

For excellent Aussie hosting, you can’t go wrong with Crucial. True to its name, the company delivers all the essentials you need to launch and grow your website, and then some. Bonus features like advanced security measures and the range of optional add-ons (like SSL certificates) help push Crucial ahead of the pack. Though their prices veer towards the high mark, you’ll get comprehensive hosting packages, flexible billing, and solid uptime and refund guarantees. For Australian web hosting, Crucial is the way to go.